Page 49 of Promise Me, Katie (Bennett Sisters #1)

“Please, Millie, you have to stop. I swear I’m gonna wet my pants.”

“Well, I think I already did,” Millie laughed. “But don’t be alarmed. It was only a little.”

Raising herself off the couch, Katherine reached out and wrapped her arms around Millie’s neck. They hugged, laughed, and clapped each other on the back until there was a knock on the door. Then Millie pulled away, attempting to shush the giggles out of Katherine.

“Yes?”

Katherine covered her mouth with her hand as the study door opened.

“Mother, are you okay in here?”

It was Millie’s son, Henry, with Katherine’s brother-in-law, Andrew, following him into the room.

“Why yes, my dear boy.” Millie shot Katherine a look that said keep it together . “Why do you ask?”

“We didn’t know if we heard crying or laughing,” Henry said, visibly uncomfortable with invading female territory. “So, we thought we’d check on you.”

Then Henry and Andrew surveyed the scene before them.

Two women with tear-streaked faces shrugging in feigned innocence.

An empty tissue box tossed on the floor.

A mountain of used tissues piled on the table beside the tea service.

And a plate of crumbs sat next to an empty flask that lay tipped over on a serving tray.

“Mother, are you intoxicated already?” Henry checked the time on his watch as the two women glanced at each other like they were two children about to be scolded.

“Are you intoxicated?” Millie asked Katherine.

She nodded. “Are you?”

“I think so, dear girl.” Millie lifted the flask and held it upside down over her open mouth. A single drop landed on her tongue. “Oh my, I must be.”

They both laughed hysterically.

“Not that damn Laphroaig again,” Henry grumbled, coming over to help his mother off the couch as Andrew went to Katherine’s side to do the same, careful not to bump her bandaged arm. “Come on, you two, let’s get you sobered up.”

Henry and Andrew then hauled them into the kitchen for food and coffee.

From all the giggling and whisky, Katherine didn’t remember much of the walk down the long hallway.

Nevertheless, she still found herself seated at Millie’s kitchen island, watching Henry and Andrew fry eggs, potatoes, and bacon.

“How did this happen?” Katherine mumbled, her head pounding.

“Yuck!” The woman next to her gagged. “This stuff will kill you.”

Henry and Andrew stopped what they were doing to look at Millie, sitting next to Katherine, sipping from a small but strong cup of coffee.

“Drink it, Mother,” Henry demanded, disappointed that once more she had resorted to using her trusty flask and its strong amber contents on poor, unsuspecting Katherine. “Drink every last drop. Consider it part of your penance.”

Katherine looked down at the near-black brew of her own as the men chuckled before turning their attention back to the stove.

Katherine hadn’t touched her cup yet because, like Millie, she longed for the comforting warmth only a hot cup of tea could provide.

Well, the kind without Millie’s peaty-tasting whisky.

“You know Jerome and Ginny are worried sick about you,” Andrew said over his shoulder.

Katherine grunted, lifting the cup to her lips and drawing in a cautious sip. Millie was right. The liquid was positively vile, but she knew it was for her own good, so she took a drink.

“Matthew, too,” he added, setting down a plate of greasy food.

Katherine blanched, turning her head and gagging a little in the process. The aroma of breakfast, usually comforting to her, now left her feeling nauseous. In fact, even the look of it made her stomach turn.

“Trust me, it helps.”

Not entirely believing her brother-in-law, Katherine looked to Henry for confirmation, and he nodded with a smile of encouragement.

Then she looked to Millie, who was gathering a heaping spoonful of mashed-up fried eggs, bacon, and home fries into one big bite and stuffing it into her mouth.

She chewed and chewed, then sighed in relief.

After licking the remnants of the rich yellow yolk from her lips, Millie said, “It’s true. I don’t know how it’s true, but thank the good Lord it is.”

Katherine studied her plate in disbelief but accepted that, at this point, she didn’t have any other option. Surprisingly, they’d all been right because as soon as she swallowed the second bite and was going for a third, her stomach started to settle, and she felt slightly revived.

“Thank God,” she murmured, continuing to eat. She was grateful to be coming out from under the hazy fog that had clouded her head and made her confess everything to Millie about what she’d read in those horrible files of Justin’s, along with everything from her past with Max.

Those files.

Even now, she despised their very existence.

“You okay, Katie?”

Katherine’s head snapped up as if she’d heard Matthew’s voice. But it was only Andrew.

“Yes.” She nodded. “I’m okay.”

“Then why are you crying again?”

Katherine touched her face as streams of tears spilled down her cheeks. “I don’t know!” she wailed like a hurt and confused child. “This just keeps happening. Trust me, I don’t mean for it to. It just does.”

Frustrated with herself, Katherine dropped the fork on her plate and covered her face with her hands. “I’m sorry, you guys. I can’t seem to make it stop.”

Taking pity on her, Andrew came over to hug Katherine as she babbled incoherently about Matthew, Max, and any other thought racing through her rattled mind.

Finally, a bout of chest-heaving hiccups stopped her from more of her long-winded rambling, and Andrew held the coffee cup to her mouth like he would for one of his children. “Drink,” he said.

Katherine blanched but did as she was told. When she choked on the vile liquid, Andrew slapped her on the back so hard she was convinced that the smack did more than the coffee because she calmed down enough to finish eating.

“Thanks,” she said after taking another bite. “You’re officially my favorite brother-in-law.”

While Henry and Andrew cleaned the kitchen, Katherine and Millie finished eating. Once they were done with their coffee, both ladies were escorted back to Millie’s study, settled onto opposite couches, and covered with blankets. Then, both of them were sternly instructed to sleep.

Almost immediately, Millie’s eyes closed, and she started to snore louder than a bear. Katherine, on the other hand, couldn’t seem to fall asleep despite how tired and emotionally drained she felt.

At first, she thought it was because of the noise from across the room, but eventually, she had to accept that her restlessness had more to do with her thoughts about Matthew.

She wondered where he was and what he must be thinking. She thought about how he’d said he didn’t want her to leave him the first night they’d spent together. And then, later, how he said they could make it through anything.

Now, Katherine wondered if it was still possible.